The Early Blooming Cherry Blossoms
by anambermusicbox
Summary: Because it's the sweet simple things in life which are the real ones after all. - Written for Poirot Cafe's Prompt Exchange #2


**Prompt: Kaito is an extremely lucky Shinigami.**

 **Disclaimer. Hope you like it! Reviews are greatly appreciated. (Anyone who's ever written a story knows what I'm talking about.)**

 **The prompt I had to work with was... _different_ than my usual stories. Whoever came up with it originally, I'll apologize in advance if this isn't what you had in mind (probably isn't).**

 **Yeah, I'll stop talking now. Hope you like it!**

...

Kaito attends his own funeral.

No really, he does.

It's kind of funny, Kaito thinks, how it all unraveled. A heist gone wrong, a revealed identity, a bullet, and a shattered red jewel.

Not to mention the fact that he was technically dead.

That's where all the red stuff on his KID outfit came from.

But there he was, standing at the back of the crowd, under the shade of an old tree, listening to the eulogy, wiping the tears from his eyes, just like the rest of his mourners.

Except he was technically dead.

So they didn't see his sad smile, didn't hear his laugh when Aoko told a particular embarrassing story and called him 'Bakaito,' didn't see him walk away when the weeping became too much.

And more than anything, he wanted to hug his mom again, wanted to prank and tease Hakuba and make everyone laugh again, wanted to pull a rose out of thin air and make Aoko smile again.

But those privileges were for the living.

And he was technically dead.

Received an assignment as a Shinigami of the vicinity of Tokyo shortly after KID's last heist.

It's a hard job, Kaito quickly realizes. They say it's because it takes skill and experience, but that's the easy part.

The hard part is being among them. The people you loved, were there for you and you for them, but you can't be there for them now. You see them, but they can't see you, and it hurts to see them grieve, but you can't be part of their lives again, not until they die as well, and you don't want them to. You want them to live their lives and move on be _happy_.

 _It's kind of funny_ , Kaito thinks.

...

Kaito takes the day off on graduation too.

Or, you know, the day he was supposed to graduate from high school.

Technically, he hadn't even been on the job long enough to take vacation days, but his request _(or was it more of a plea?)_ , is granted anyways.

He's grateful.

They leave his seat empty and pretend he's graduating with them without realizing that the seat wasn't really empty because Kaito was sitting in it and he really is there, graduating with them.

Except he wasn't, really, because he was technically dead.

He pretends to receive his diploma, sings the graduation song and laughs and cries right along with the rest of the graduating class.

And when Aoko asks Keiko to take a picture of her among the early blooming cherry blossoms, with her graduation cap and diploma, Kaito can't help but photobomb the picture with a grin on his face and put bunny ears behind her head.

Keiko remarks on how pretty the picture turned out, but Aoko just smiles wistfully and says, "I wish Kaito was here." And that's when Kaito's smile cracks and he feels like screaming.

 _I'm here, Aoko! I'm right here!_

She wouldn't have heard him anyways.

In the picture, beside Aoko, there is nothing but the cherry blossoms and the clear blue sky.

...

Kaito's mother only comes back to Japan twice a year, just for a day, namely, on Kaito's and Toichi's death anniversaries. She doesn't know that Kaito is right there beside her when she leaves flowers at his grave.

What she does know is that Kaito is with his father now.

...

If there's anyone Kaito sees the most often while on the job, it's Meitantei-kun.

 _Of course._

Kaito is always cheering him on as Shinichi _-Shinichi now, not Conan, though Kaito does miss those days-_ solves the murder.

Especially the stupid ones.

The stupid ones piss Kaito off so damn much.

...

Once, someone died in an aquarium.

Kaito was on duty.

Evidently, even death couldn't cure his ichthyophobia.

...

He can't really tell how much time has passed by. Sometimes certain things don't even feel real.

He watches her as she grows up and wishes he grow up with her again.

He never does move on, refuses to, can't help but smile every time he sees a mop or anything else that reminds him of her, but wants with all his heart that she would forget about him and be happy.

He wishes her a happy birthday. And Pi Day, and Mountain Day, and Columbus Day ('cause apparently that's a thing), and Onigiri Day, and Culture Day, and Saturday, and everyday.

Everything.

Eventually, though, Aoko gets sick.

Machines beep. The air smells sterile. He can hear people walking to and fro outside in the hallway, but none of that mattered at the moment. It was just the same as all the other times he'd been here, as per the job, except that it was _her_ time that was up.

And she made all the difference. She always did.

Aoko.

She's sitting up, pillow behind her back, her hands clutching the white sheets of the bed. He's standing in front of her as she stares straight through him into empty space. He doesn't really know how she feels, doesn't really know how he feels, doesn't really know how he's _supposed_ to feel, doesn't really know how long they stay like this for, but suddenly, Aoko's eyes widen, and she's not staring through him anymore but _at_ him.

"Kaito…"

He freezes (no Poker Face), doesn't know what to say (there's so much _to_ say), because it's been so long (or, at least, it felt like it). And she _finally_ _sees_ him.

"Aoko…" Her name comes out as a mere whisper. He reaches out his hand.

 _And everything faded to white._

...

At 0945 hours, Haido Central Hospital, comatose patient Kuroba Kaito wakes up.

The doctors say he's extremely lucky.

 _He is_ , Kaito thinks. Once he can actually talk properly, _breathe_ properly, he'll have to explain everything to Aoko, including his father's murder and his identity as KID. He doesn't know how she'll take it, but he's grateful. For various reasons. Numerous reasons.

 _He is_ , Kaito thinks. Aoko calls him an idiot and frets over his injuries and tells him his mom is on the way. And he smiles, one that is happy and sad at the same time, one that is pensive and makes it seem as if the wearer of that smile had lived a thousand years. A smile that Aoko will never quite fully comprehend.

 _He is_ , Kaito thinks. Because it's the sweet simple things in life which are the real ones after all.

 _He is_ , Kaito thinks. It wasn't Kaitou KID's luck.

It was, _is_ , Kuroba Kaito's.


End file.
